David R. Mayhew

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David R. Mayhew (born May 18, 1937) is a political scientist and Professor in the Political Science Department at Yale University. He is the author of several influential books on American politics. In Congress: The Electoral Connection, Mayhew argued that much of the organization of the United States Congress can be explained as the result of re-election seeking behavior by its members. In Divided We Govern, he disputed the previously accepted notion that, when Congress and the presidency are controlled by different parties, less important legislation is passed than under unified government.

Mayhew earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2004, he received the Samuel J. Eldersveld Award for lifetime achievement from the American Political Science Association.

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"If a group of planners sat down and tried to design a pair of American national assemblies with the goal of serving members' reelection needs year in and year out, they would be hard pressed to improve on what exists."